My father and I shared many common traits but our tastes often differed. The following highlights one of our differences. This entry is from July 7, 2006.
I'm an early morning coffee drinker and so is my dad. However, that's where the similarities end. Dad makes his java a 50/50 blend of regular and decaf. I like my overly strong. Dad likes to grind the coffee beans himself and prefers certain brands. I buy whatever is cheapest in the most bulk. Dad likes his morning brew steaming. Sometimes when I wake up, I simply drink mine cold, right out of the pot from the previous day. We compromise when I'm in St. Louis. I buy my own can of coffee and make it as strong as I please the night before. I pour it into a big Thermos so I have it whenever I want it. Dad has the timer set on his Mr. Coffee so it starts his pot percolating before he wakes up. He drinks his unique blend and I drink mine. We get along great.
All of us see arguing constantly in the dimensions of our worlds. I see it in the kids in my school and on rare occasions with the people I work with. Most of the disputes are over issues as inconsequential as the strength of a pot of coffee. The topic is rarely of importance or based on an interpretation of morality. In 1st Corinthians 6, Paul is addressing the dilemma of lawsuits in the church. Presumably these court cases were of some weighty matter but Paul's advice in verse 7 is, "Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?" If that is sound advice for something that could be brought to trial, would it not apply much more to minor disagreements? Once an argument commences, it takes on its own existence and it has the ability to lead to destinations that are difficult to return from . Proverbs 17:14 lays out some timeless advice for genial relationships with those we interact with on a daily basis:
"Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out."
Sounds easy in print but a struggle to implement. At the moment dissent starts to rear its ugly head, I have a great suggestion- have a cup of coffee!
Applicable quote of the day:
"Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis- a good hot cup of coffee."
Alexander King
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
http://www.hawleybooks.com/
All of us see arguing constantly in the dimensions of our worlds. I see it in the kids in my school and on rare occasions with the people I work with. Most of the disputes are over issues as inconsequential as the strength of a pot of coffee. The topic is rarely of importance or based on an interpretation of morality. In 1st Corinthians 6, Paul is addressing the dilemma of lawsuits in the church. Presumably these court cases were of some weighty matter but Paul's advice in verse 7 is, "Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?" If that is sound advice for something that could be brought to trial, would it not apply much more to minor disagreements? Once an argument commences, it takes on its own existence and it has the ability to lead to destinations that are difficult to return from . Proverbs 17:14 lays out some timeless advice for genial relationships with those we interact with on a daily basis:
"Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out."
Sounds easy in print but a struggle to implement. At the moment dissent starts to rear its ugly head, I have a great suggestion- have a cup of coffee!
Applicable quote of the day:
"Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis- a good hot cup of coffee."
Alexander King
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
http://www.hawleybooks.com/
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
1 comment:
catching up on your blog - this one reminds me of the first time we brought a frapachino into your dad before he had been cleared for non-thickened drinks. he HATED the coffee thickened so we figured maybe if we tried the thickest frapachino that he might be able to manage it. the look on his face stays with me - he was SO pleased! we got caught the next time but it did work to trigger another swollow test since they saw he was managing to drink it without a problem. he passed the test and was thrilled to be able to again drink one of his favorite drinks! it was wonderful that people started bringing him his favorite starbucks as well!
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